Gillingham's youngsters booked their place in the knock out stages of the Youth Alliance Cup with a good away win that sees them finish second in Qualifying Group 4.

Needing only a draw to progress, the visitors got off to the worst possible start, as poor defending allowed Ryan Dasilva to cross for Jean Phillip Yamfam to put the Hatters into an early lead.

Mark Patterson's men were fortunate not to concede again direct from the restart as Dasilva broke quickly but side footed straight to Conor Quinn with the goal at his mercy.

The game was dominated by a strong crosswind which made play difficult for both sides but the Gills recovered well from their early setback and settled into their stride as the half wore on. Indeed Charlie Stimson's cross shot needed a good save from keeper Mark Blower to preserve the home side's lead at the break.

With conditions working in their favour in the second half Gillingham controlled proceedings from the outset and levelled the scores in the 55^th minute. Liam Geering collected the ball on the right of midfield and played it forward to Callum Day, he held off his marker before squaring for Dean Rance to plant a finish into the corner from 15 yards.

Rance returned the compliment soon after, collecting Tom Murphy's pass before splitting the defence for Callum Day to side foot into the net.

Luton finished strongly and had Gillingham firmly on the back foot in the closing stages, Matt James coming perilously close to finding an equaliser only to see Conor Quinn block his goal bound effort with his legs.

The visitors still looked threatening on the counter attack and Under-16 George Humber was desperately unlucky at the death to see his shot blocked twice on the line.

Speaking after the final whistle Manager Mark Patterson declared himself extremely pleased with his side's display in testing circumstances, "It was a competitive game and both teams gave it a go. We knew what we had to do to qualify before the game and we achieved that in a professional manner."

Gillingham: Quinn, Benniman, Evans, Davies, Essam, Geering (J. Brown 70), Brunt, Rance, Stimson, Murphy, Day (Humber 80)

Subs not used: Hawkes, A Brown.

Gillingham now face a tough trip to Swindon on November 7^th for the next round, the third time in as many seasons that the two sides have been paired in this tournament.